


Old Friends, New Friends

by u_muggle



Series: The Otherworld [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Mythical Beings & Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 03:12:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19715095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/u_muggle/pseuds/u_muggle
Summary: Ever since Clara Oswald was a child she'd been able to see things others couldn't. She thought she was the only one who's fantasies lived in reality. Until the peculiar man with wild silver hair had other things to say on the matter. Now that she'd entered his world, it was time to meet some new friends......'You tried to kill me. Is that what you call friendship Missy?' he asked, pushing further and harder on the umbrella, pulling a startled Clara in his wake.'You always take things so personally. I was trying to kill almost everyone, inevitably you came into this rather broad category,' Missy commented, sitting slowly back onto the bar stool as though it was completely her choice and she wasn't being forced by an increasingly angry Doctor.





	Old Friends, New Friends

It had been a long day spent with the Doctor traipsing across London looking for occult items in musty, chaotic, back alley shops. Often as not, Clara would never have been able to tell that the book/ metal object/rusty kettle was in fact a magical artefact of some sort and was therefore the Doctor's prerogative to buy. She had first watched bemused as the Doctor had pulled out several ten pound notes only for the shop owner to tut.

'You can't be serious,' he'd asked incredulously.

'It's just a kettle,' the Doctor said stubbornly, clanging the object loudly against the wall. The shop keeper winced.

'You know damn well it's not just a kettle,' he said, holding his hand out palm upwards.

'Stupid system,' Clara heard the Doctor mutter under his breath. He delved deep into his trouser pockets and pulled out a series of odd looking red and gold coins. As he picked through the pile on his palm, Clara managed to get a closer look. Each coin was adorned with a pentagram on one side and crude etching of a mythical creature on the other. The red coins seemed to favour stereotypically darker creatures, whereas the gold coins favoured traditional creatures of the light. Clara noted a unicorn astride one golden coin.

Finally the Doctor handed over two red and three gold coins, grumbling all the time that the modern day currency worked just as well.

After they'd left the shop, Clara had asked, 'What was with the weird coins?'

'The Otherworld decided that being another world, it needed its own currency. What they decided was stupid and now it means that if you wish to buy anything _special_ shall we say, you have to pay with those preposterous red and gold coins. Not suspicious at all when everyone else is using paper and plastic.'

Clara had then spent the rest of the day hearing the Doctor moan about the archaic practices of the Otherworld. After a quick coffee stop he'd announced that was probably it for their shopping trip and that he'd see her tomorrow, if she wanted to of course.

After finally reaching her flat, Clara had just unlocked the door, dumped her bag and headed into the living room when she'd immediately stopped in complete shock.

'Who the hell are you!?' she shouted, staring at the figure of a man dressed all in black. The man turned with a slimy, close lipped smile. His skin was decidedly pale and his eyes were the darkest shade of brown Clara had ever seen.

'Balthazar Stevens at your service,' the man replied silkily.

'Ok, no offence or anything mate but I didn't invite you in so how the hell did you get into my flat?' Clara replied furiously, clenching her keys as a weapon in her hand.

'As to how I got in, well.... But as to the invitation, your doormat says welcome, you've already invited me in.'

Clara stared more closely at the pale figure before her. His black clothes had definitely seen better days but were tailored and made of expensive fabric. His fingers were long and ended in rather sharply pointed fingernails. The longer she looked at and into his eyes, the stranger she began to feel. What was she so worried about, she'd known Balthazar nearly all her life? There was nothing suspicious about the situation at all.

With a start she ripped her eyes away from his and noticed a slight frown appear on his face.

'You're a vampire,' she realised, clutching the keys in her hand even harder. 'What do you want?' She demanded.

'Rumours have spread that you're the Doctor's new companion as it were. I just came as a courtesy call to let him know that I'm still in business if he wanted my assistance. And, that he owes me a drink if you know what I mean...,' Balthazar said with a drawl, beginning to examine his fingernails intently.

'And what type of business would that be?' Clara enquired, scrutinising his every move.

'Acquiring information, things.....people,' he replied with a grin, showing off his pointed incisors with relish.

'I'm sure he'd love to know how a vampire invaded my home, I'll be sure to let him know don't you worry,' Clara said. She flicked her keys in the direction of the door. 'Now would be the time to leave.'

With a raised eyebrow, Balthazar took one last look around the room before slinking towards the door. Clara heard the door click shut and a pair of footsteps heading down the main staircase to the foyer below.

Releasing her tight grip on her keys, Clara noticed her hands beginning to shake uncontrollably. With several deep, calming breaths she picked up her bag again and headed out through the front door.

'I met a friend of yours this evening. You could have warned me a vampire might be popping round,' Clara announced to the house as she struggled to pull her spare key out of the lock.

'A vampire? Why did you let him in?' The voice of the Doctor bellowed from deeper within the house. Clara could hear the tell tale rustling of book pages and smell the strong scent of coffee wafting down the endless hallway.

'I didn't! Well not intentionally, apparently the word welcome on my doormat is enough!' Clara shouted back, finally pulling the key out of the lock with a triumphant grunt. Following the scent of coffee she found the Doctor in the living room surrounded by a pile of mismatched books with the rusty kettle balanced on his lap. His magician's coat was flung on the back of his armchair leaving him in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a red backed waistcoat. Walking past him to take a seat opposite, she squeezed his shoulder fondly in greeting. He glanced up briefly from his study and gave a gruff smile.

'What was his name?'

'You should know, he's your friend,' Clara retorted, watching as the Doctor screwed up one eye, lifted up the kettle and studied the inside of the spout. He sighed, lowered the kettle and looked sulkily at her. 'Fine, Balthazar Stevens,' she admitted, trying to hide a fond smile at his continued insistence at maintaining his grumpy façade, despite the fact she now had a key to his house, went out on trips with him nearly every weekend and even wrapped him up in his tartan blanket when he fell asleep in his chair. Not that they spoke about those incidents.

'What did he want?'

'Said he came to let you know that he's still in business. Apparently you owe him a drink,' Clara said. With a sudden realisation she asked aghast, 'Oh god, please tell me you don't mean you owe him a bite of you?'

'Don't be ridiculous,' the Doctor scoffed with a roll of his eyes, secretly enjoying the horrified look on her face, 'I owe him a pint of beer.'

Clara stared unamused at him. 'So who is he? Apart from being a vampire that now has free and unlimited access to my home?'

'He's the guy you go to for information, favours, that sort of thing. He's a link to the underworld of the Otherworld,' the Doctor explained with still a hint of mirth in his voice.

'Wow, who knew your life is actually a film noir. Please tell me he can be found in a shady bar down a set of steps,' Clara joked, watching as the Doctor's face returned to its default grumpy setting with his eyebrows drawn together in an almighty frown.

'Don't be such a pudding brain. He frequents the Wetherspoons on Chancery Lane.'

'Oh yeah, how obvious. I can't believe I didn't think of there first...'

'Come on then,' the Doctor announced, standing up and placing the kettle on the seat behind him. He eyed it with annoyance before turning back around and grabbing his black coat. With a sweeping flourish he donned the coat and extended his hand to her.

'Where are we going?' She asked with a slight blush as she took his hand. She still wasn't used to the recent development in their relationship but it seemed to make him more relaxed when they entered Otherworld territory. He'd once told her that if she was to embark on this journey with him, then as her teacher and mentor, he had a duty of care. A duty of care which he took entirely too seriously she thought.

'To vampire proof your house, unless you'd like Balthazar rifling through your cupboards for chocolate biscuits?' he replied, pulling her out of the living room.

'Chocolate biscuits?' Clara echoed in disbelief.

'I don't know which is going to be more suspicious to visitors, garlic hanging all over the house or lots of wooden crosses,' Clara huffed, watching as the Doctor placed a large cardboard box on her coffee table. He ignored her and continued to open it instead. Reaching inside, Clara watched as he pulled out a wreath dotted with small red berries alongside several separate branches of a plant with pink flowering blossom.

'Hawthorn,' the Doctor said before Clara could even question him. 'Used since the medieval times to dispel evil spirits and the dark arts. If he somehow gets past the door, these branches in a vase in the hallway and living room should deter him. The flowers made him sneeze anyway,' he continued.

'What about the windows?' Clara asked.

'The windows?' the Doctor questioned with a frown, already beginning to bundle up the branches.

'Yeah you know, what if he turns into a bat and flies through my windows,' Clara answered, crossing her arms and staring at him.

'Don't be stupid-' the Doctor started. He shut his mouth suddenly and instead took a deep breath. 'Real vampires can't turn into bats or fly, it was just a silly myth perpetuated to make them seem scarier than they actually are,' he continued explaining softly.

'Sorry,' Clara said, uncrossing her arms and reaching for the wreath.

'Don't be, I said I'd teach you and that's what I should be doing,' he said with a small smile.

'So! Anything else to stop this creeper from getting in?' Clara asked, breaking the tension and returning the Doctor's tentative smile with a large grin.

'Well you've already got an extortionate number of mirrors in the house so you should be fine.'

'You say extortionate, I say a normal number of mirrors for a human who cares about her appearance and general hygiene. You should take note,' she replied, walking off to the door to hang the wreath. The Doctor stood frowning at her back, a small pout forming on his lips.

'I have perfectly good general hygiene thank you very much,' he muttered to himself.

A few hours later with the house sufficiently vampire proofed and her welcome mat now in the bin, Clara was sat at a table in the Wetherspoons on Chancery Lane watching an array of student pre-drinkers, office workers and old men get slowly hammered. Drumming her fingers on the table she glanced over at the Doctor leaning on the bar talking to the familiar figure of Balthazar Stevens. She watched as the Doctor leaned closer and adjusted his black coat just so to allow the inner red lining to show. Balthazar grimaced and edged away before beginning to babble about something. Clara had to admit that the Doctor cut quite a striking figure in his magicians coat with his pair of steely blue eyes being used to maximum effect. He turned suddenly and caught her watching him, with a quick glance back towards Balthazar he headed over. Several of the nearby young office workers watched jealously as he sat across from her.

'Fancy another trip?' the Doctor asked with a strange gleam in his eyes.

'Where to?' she asked excitedly.

Where to it turned out had been to a street in Kensington, just a few minutes walk away from the Natural History Museum. The darkened streets were still abuzz with tourists and commuters, the whizz of car headlights streamed down the main road behind them, but Clara and the Doctor were currently stood at the bottom of a flight of stairs, facing a large black door. The building above them was a typical large, white Kensington residence. In fact the basement they were currently waiting outside also seemed fairly typical.

'Remember all the monsters that lived under your bed or in the cupboard when you were a kid? The monster that was waiting to grab you as soon as you turned off the last light but weren't fast enough up the stairs? Are you ready to face them?'

Clara looked questioningly at the Doctor, a wide manic grin on his face, his hand placed firmly on the black door. With a resolute nod of her head she returned his grin. He pushed the door. She watched with horror and a sick sort of anticipation as the room beyond was revealed. A large hairy shape barrelled straight towards them, leaping onto the Doctor. Clara watched as he fell under the weight of the creature, large sharp fangs glinted in the dim lights.

'Doctor!' she heard herself shouting.

'Get off me you great lummox!' the Doctor grumbled, his voice muffled by the large amount of fur currently engulfing him.

'We've missed you Doc,' the monster roared, pulling himself up. With a huge paw he grabbed the Doctor by the arm and hauled him upwards from the ground. Clara watched still in shock as the monster tried to carefully brush the dust off the Doctor's coat. 'Sorry,' he said guilty. The Doctor raised his head, his eyebrows drawn together in a trademark frown. He turned and glanced back at the still shocked Clara. Making sure his back was to the monster he winked conspiratorially before his face turned back to its angry mask. He took one step towards the monster. The huge hulk of fur withdrew in on itself.

'You owe me a drink Marvin,' the Doctor chuckled, his face erupting into his tell tale grin. Marvin pouted, his fangs hanging over the edge of his bottom lip.

'Not funny Doctor,' he growled. 'You do this every time!'

'Then surely you should have learnt by now!' The Doctor shouted, heading off towards the bar. 'Marvin, that's Clara!' He added over his shoulder.

'Hi Clara!' Marvin replied enthusiastically, waving his large paw at her.

'Hi,' she replied shakily. 'I think I need a drink too.' Clara followed Marvin as he trudged towards the back of the room where the bar was situated. She could already see the Doctor leaning on the bar talking to a small fairy like creature holding a thimble sized glass. As her eyes adjusted to the lighting she began to notice the other clientele of the bar. Several other large, hairy beings sat around a table. Most were brown, although a bright white being sat amongst them, small ice crystals stuck in its fur. She recognised a few vampires playing pool, a rather decrepit looking women with a large nose eyeing the room from her table in the corner and a three headed dog lazily thumping its tail on the floor.

'You are a horrible friend sometimes, you know that! I thought you were being mauled to death,' she hissed angrily at the Doctor, very much aware of Marvin watching him happily like a love sick puppy.

'Shhhh, keep your voice down. Derrick's sister was mauled to death by a dog a few years ago,' he whispered, indicating discreetly to what Clara could only guess was a small leprechaun dressed in a green parka coat, his ginger hair wild from the wind.

'An absolute tragedy,' a female drawled from further down the bar. Clara turned to her right to see a beautifully pale woman with the sharpest cheekbones she'd ever seen, casually draping herself over a bar stool, and the bar by extension. She was dressed in a black silk blouse and matching black, figure hugging pencil skirt. Clara's eyes were drawn inexplicably downwards, following the small expanse of pale skin before coming to rest upon her pair of purple, leather, knee high boots. The leather glinted malevolently in the dim light of the bar as the woman repeatedly rotated her ankle in a circular motion. Slowly, as though pulling herself out of a trance, Clara looked upwards to the woman's face. She was greeted with a wide smirk and a raised, sculpted eyebrow.

'Clara,' the Doctor all but growled, stepping out in front of her and raising himself up to his full height.

'Oh, don't be so boring,' the woman said, sighing dramatically. 'It's been such a long time since you've had a new play thing for me.'

'Marvin, I'd like you to take Clara outside and wait with her until I'm done here,' he said calmly, never taking his eyes off the mysterious woman in front of him. Clara heard the great hulk of Marvin begin to trudge towards her from behind. She grabbed the Doctor's arm angrily, twisting him around to face her.

'Like hell he will!' she hissed, staring defiantly into his eyes. An icy chill had masked the normal swirling blue ocean, turning his eyes almost grey in colour. 'I stay with you, no matter what,' she whispered, squeezing his arm.

'And I have a duty of care, no matter what,' he replied, his eyes pleading with her to listen to him, just this once. They stood there staring at each other, each refusing to be the one to back down. Clara could hear a faint whimpering noise coming from Marvin who was obviously having a hard time disobeying the Doctor's orders in favour of his new found friend. 'Fine,' she heard the Doctor sigh. He turned away from her and back towards the woman, who had been silently watching the whole situation play out before her. She laughed triumphantly as Clara's hand released his arm and slid slowly downwards to grasp his hand instead. The bar had become suspiciously quiet as a myriad of eyes turned to watch the commotion unfolding.

'Oh, I like this one!' she said, rising from her stool and picking up a large purple umbrella which Clara could have sworn had not been there before. 'I don't know why you're so surprised to see me Doctor, aren't I the whole reason you came here in the first place?'

'I heard rumours,' the Doctor answered coldly, shifting his weight to push Clara slightly behind the protection of his body.

'And what are the rumours saying this time Doctor?' the woman asked innocently, tapping her umbrella softly on the floor as she sauntered towards them. The Doctor stayed resolutely silent. 'Don't be so coy, I only wanted to say hello to my oldest and dearest friend,' she said, raising the end of her umbrella to softly stroke the side of the Doctor's face. In a heartbeat, his left hand darted upwards and caught the object, pushing it and her backwards.

'You tried to kill me. Is that what you call friendship Missy?' he asked, pushing further and harder on the umbrella, pulling a startled Clara in his wake.

'You always take things so personally. I was trying to kill almost everyone, inevitably you came into this rather broad category,' Missy commented, sitting slowly back onto the bar stool as though it was completely her choice and she wasn't being forced by an increasingly angry Doctor. Clara watched anxiously as the Doctor's knuckles began to turn white with the force of his grip, small sparks of light began to bounce ominously along the length of the umbrella, coalescing at the point still held so firmly in his hand. Clara could feel the tension in his arm, the way his whole body was beginning to vibrate, to pulse with an energy which made her instantly want to run away. Pushing back a rising tide of nausea she pulled her gaze away from Missy and towards the Doctor's face. His lips were pulled back in a silent snarl, his eyes unblinking and in human.

'Doctor?' Clara asked softly, stroking the back of his hand with her thumb. 'This isn't you.' Within seconds the umbrella clattered to the floor, sending sparks flying as it collided with the ground. The Doctor gasped and began gulping in air as though he'd resurfaced from almost drowning. He sagged heavily and began staring with horror at his hand. Without a second thought to the mad woman with them, she placed her back to her and took the Doctor's face gently between her palms. With the softest of pressures, she managed to raise his face, to see the haunted anguish in his eyes. 'It's ok, it's ok,' she reassured him soothingly. After what seemed like an age but could only have been a few minutes, he nodded haltingly, took her hand in his own and kissed her palm lovingly.

'I.....' he started.

'Duty of care,' she said simply.

'She's good isn't she?' Missy announced, clapping sarcastically. 'Isn't she good everyone?' she asked the bar, several glowing eyes turned quickly away back to the dregs of their drinks.

'I think it's time you left, don't you?' Clara said in a steely voice, kicking the umbrella towards her purple boots.

'As you wish Clara Oswald.....' Missy replied sweetly. With an elaborate bow she picked up her umbrella and sauntered slowly out of the door.

It only struck Clara hours later, in the sanctuary of the Doctor's home, drinking a cup of tea which she'd practically forced on her still slightly unnerved friend, that Missy had known her full name. If there was one thing she'd remembered from the Doctor's lessons, giving your full name in the Otherworld was an extremely dangerous decision. A decision that could cost you your life.


End file.
